Monroe police officer John Yaworowski provides security as Principal Debra Kovachi welcomes students at the front door on the first day of school at Monroe Elementary School in Monroe, Conn. on Tuesday, August 27, 2013.

Monroe police officer John Yaworowski and Principal Debra Kovachi chat as they await students on the first day of school at Monroe Elementary School in Monroe, Conn. on Tuesday, August 27, 2013.
Photo: Brian A. Pounds

Youth Officer Detective Lynn Morris, of the Bethel Police Department, poses with students for a parent's camera on opening day at Johnson School in Bethel, Conn. Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013.
Photo: Michael Duffy

Bob Germinaro, who is in charge of security for Bethel's public schools, monitors pedestrians crossing in front of Rockewll School on opening day in Bethel, Conn. Wednesday, Aug. 28, 2013.
Photo: Michael Duffy

New Fairfield Middle School has a new interior security entrance where visitors are screened. Visitors may communicate with school personnel in the main office through a bullet-proof glass window, which is part of the school's new security measures. Seen here, Supertindent of Schools Alicia Roy talks with Mike Clune and his daughter, Katie, on the first day of classes, in New Fairfield, Conn. Thursday, Aug. 29, 2013.
Photo: Michael Duffy

There will be four police officers assigned to its schools, updated locks on classroom doors and panic alarms to link school offices and the police department.

On top of that, there are classroom phones to call 911, electronic key chain cards that give police access to all schools and upgraded cameras throughout the district.

The $2.5 million price tag is high -- but these days almost no expense would be considered too high to secure the district's 13 school buildings and protect its 6,600 students.

Milford's security spending is in line with what school districts across the region have invested since the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown.

In the aftermath of the massacre, it is unlikely there will be a blanket set of security standards for schools, but instead guidelines each community can adopt, said Adam Byington, a Fairfield police officer, who is part of the state's school security council.

"What happened was an unspeakable tragedy that shook the state and shook the nation," Byington said. "We can't take a risk of that happening again."

Across Connecticut, 107 school districts have requested a total of about $20.8 million since the state authorized a School Security Grant Program in May. The first $5 million in winning grants are expected to be announced this week, said Scott DeVico, a spokesman for the state Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection, and there will be two more $5 million rounds of funding.

Fast alert, fast response

Perhaps no one understands the need for security better than Janet Robinson, who was superintendent of schools in Newtown when the Dec. 14 massacre claimed 20 children and six educators. She now is superintendent in Stratford.

Robinson said all the new security efforts represent money well spent as long as they do two things: Delay intruders and decrease the time it takes for help to arrive.

"Those are the two things that are important and will help keep schools safer," Robinson said. "Hardware and cameras help you be alert if there is a problem. The faster the alert, the faster the response time."

In Stratford, lockdown drills have become as common as fire drills for the 7,410 students and $1.5 million has been bonded for security upgrades to the district's 13 schools.

Stratford's list of new security measures was drawn up before Robinson's arrival with the help of a Connecticut State Police security critique. Beyond hardware, the critique offered advice on visitor protocol, crisis drills and procedures and the establishment of a safety committee. The district hopes to get a portion of that investment back through the state grant.

"People are your best safety measure," said Robinson. "Everyone who is part of the school is part of the security plan. If you see someone in the hallway you don't know and you are a teacher, you stop them."

Beyond fiscal investments, many districts changed policies as a result of Sandy Hook. Some have tested crisis responses.

Vigilant staff

In Shelton, a district of 5,137 students, schools Superintendent Freeman Burr said the initial response to Sandy Hook was to redirect maintenance and repair funds toward security and to beef up school entryways and windows in the district's three school construction projects. Just as important, said Burr, are efforts to make sure all staff are more vigilant.

"Security can't just fall to a single person but everyone," he said. "If someone leaves a door propped open, security is compromised."

Fairfield Schools Superintendent David Title agreed. His district has 10,273 students and 16 schools. Staff and students there are better at not leaving doors propped open, he said. But sharply curtailing access to the elementary and middle schools, by requiring parents to buzz in and state their names, was an adjustment, he added.

"People are torn between security and the inconvenience that that causes. You still want schools to feel welcoming," Title said.

The same dilemma exists in Bridgeport, where school security officers started asking visitors for photo identification last January. Some suggested that could discourage undocumented parents from visiting schools.

Bridgeport Police Sgt. Paul Grech said there has to be a balancing act between making schools safe and still welcoming. His department had started training school police and conducted risk assessments before Sandy Hook.

Metal detectors were already in place in Bridgeport's three high schools. Last fall, the district also started a Safe Corridor program, designed to keep kids safe on their way to and from school. Also, a School Security Command Center on Connecticut Avenue, in the works since the fall, was unveiled last April. The center ties together 720 cameras that monitor and record activities at about 14 of the district's 35 schools.

Will all this make schools safer?

"Obviously every layer we put into a school, we make it safer," Grech said. "It gives kids a sense of being comfortable,"

Title said the efforts will make schools safer from a hardware perspective, but permanently changing behavior will be a challenge as the memory of Sandy Hook fades.

From buzzers to panic buttons

In Brookfield, with only 3,000 students, the entryways in all of the district's four schools were fortified with a total of $110,000 worth of new glass, double buzzers and card access for new employees.

In the interim, the district of nearly 16,000 students at 20 schools has taken smaller steps. It has trained teachers and staff in safety procedures and spotting children who might be struggling with mental illness. After testing personal panic buttons for all staff in one elementary school last year, it is ordering the devices for all 12 elementary schools in the district.

It also plans to hire an architect to design security vestibules and door planters, similar to ones outside federal buildings, to prevent cars from careening into school buildings.

Stamford outsources its facilities management to Al Barbarotta, whose company AFB Construction Management has contracts with school districts around the state and, after the Sandy Hook massacre, helped relocate school equipment from Sandy Hill Elementary to the Chalk Hill school in Monroe. Barbarotta also serves as property manager of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's Stamford home.

"I think parents, in general, think our schools are safe," Barbarotta said earlier this summer. "However, after Sandy Hook, that level of making everyone feel totally safe when they send their kids to school has changed ... We've had to step it up a few levels."

Urgent response

Most admit many of the security measures would not have been adopted it not been for Sandy Hook, or at least not as quickly.

"These are not wild or crazy ideas. We have always wanted SROs," said Milford's Richetelli of school resource officers, who are armed police officers.

But Richetelli acknowledged the request likely would not have been approved with such urgency by the Board of Education and Board of Aldermen at this time last year. The district and city are splitting equally the cost of four police officers stationed at the school, whose base salary starts at $58,728. The district is paying $150,000 for four resource officers for the 10-month school year.

After the Sandy Hook shooting, the National Rifle Association proposed having armed civilian guards in every school.

No schools in southwestern Connecticut have gone that route, but many districts have increased their reliance on school resource officers.